Mustafa Ali on why his ring name was shortened to Ali

May 24, 2023 - by James Walsh

Photo Credit: WWE

Mustafa Ali was just Ali for a while in WWE, and he recently revealed why WWE shortened his name. Ali was referred to by just his last name in WWE until the new regime took over, and he explained during a conversation with SportsKeeda’s WrestleBinge that it was done due to fan confusion over whether to chant his first or last name. You can see highlights from the discussion below, per Wrestling Inc:

On the reaction to his name being shortened:

“I think people take things too personally. There’s a personal attachment to my name with Mustafa, it means something to me. But it wasn’t like they just sat around and said, ‘Hey, we are going to mess around with this guy and take away his name,’ it was a calculated decision.”

On the name being shortened to make fan chants easier:

“They just couldn’t get on the same page. This happened over, and over, and over again so the resolution was, if they only had one name to chant that’s what they’re going to chant. I pleaded my case, ‘Oh if you just refer to me as Ali but I have a full name,’ it was a decision that was made and it worked.”

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